Dragons of Power
by Shadow's Wings
Summary: A girl struggles to be free of her family, a new DADA teacher comes to Hogwarts and six people find themselves tied to the fate of the world. Rated R for safety.
1. Default Chapter

Author's Note:

My first fanfiction. Yaaaay! I finally figured out how to make this work! OK, I don't need to say too much, just enjoy the story and review at the end.

Disclaimer: Harry, Ginny, Ron and all characters from the Harry Potter books are the exclusive property of J. K. Rowling. No money is being made from this story and no copyright infringements are intended. So don't sue!!!!

Dragons of Power

By

Shadow's Wings

A dark-cloaked figure snuck quietly down the hall of the huge castle-like house. A few torches illuminated the imposing stone walls, but they were few and

far between. In the shadows created by the torchlight the figure looked sinister and mysterious. But the figure stuck to the shadows. Expertly. Reaching a corner the

dark shape slowed and looked cautiously around the edge, one hand gripping a polished wooden stick. Seeing no one the figure progressed silently down a

majestically sweeping staircase to a high-ceilinged entrance hall. Just by the door a uniformed man sat with his back to the wall, snoring quietly. The door security.

Without approaching the man the dark figure pointed the wooden stick at him and whispered just barely audibly.

            "Somnus." The door man continued to sleep. The dark figure now walked to the door and quietly pulled back the large bolt. With only the slightest of

creaks the massive wooden door swung open a crack and the figure slipped through, shutting the door quietly behind. Turning, the figure gazed from under the black

hood on its cloak at the long sweeping lawn before turning and disappearing into the shadows at the edge of the house. From there it was able to enter the woods

which wrapped around from the back of the house like arms. A few minutes later a distant crack could be heard from the house, but everyone was asleep. And then

everything was quiet.

            In a dirty side-street of a moderately bad part of town many miles from the house in the woods, a figure appeared suddenly and silently in a shadow. It

moved quickly down the street to a grubby bar and slipped in along the wall. Reaching the inn keeper the figure dropped several gold coins on the counter and said

in a quiet hiss of breath

"A room for the night." The bar keeper nodded—seemingly not perturbed in the slightest by the dark hood and mysterious manner—and pulled a key from

behind the bar.

"Room six." He said as the figure took the key from under the cloak and turned to leave the bar for the rooms section.

In room number six the door creaked open to admit the black-cloaked figure. After scanning the room thoroughly the figure turned and locked the door.

After one more look around the room the figure reached up and unclasped the cloak, collapsing on the lumpy bed.

Shining golden hair splayed across the flat pillow and clear but serious blue-grey eyes fixed on the ceiling. The girl on the bed took a deep breath. She was

young, just turned 18, and she looked beautiful, but strong. She wore will fitting black pants with a slight flare at the bottom, a stretchy black tank top and a silver

necklace with a dragon pendant. On her upper right arm was a tattoo of a dragon wrestling with a huge snake, and she had a silver ring on her right hand which

depicted a dragon as well.

With another sigh the girl sat up and rubbed her head, apparently thinking hard. She needed to plan. She had thought everything out so perfectly, but this

was still going to be tricky.

Alayana Kazia de Dracon was the only daughter and heir of the French de Dracon line. There was another line which had split after a feud and moved two

England several centuries ago, but they were lost as far as she knew. And no one would recognize them as family anyway, it had been too long. Alayana had just

finished Durmstrang Institute for Magical Instruction with top marks. Her Dark Arts and Defense marks were record breaking. It came with being talented to begin

with and growing up in a Dark household. She was legally an adult and yet she had just run away from home.

Last summer after the Dark Lord rose and her family had renewed its allegiance to him, Alayana found herself doing "favors" for her father, and in the

process setting herself up to become a Death Eater. Now. She could accomplish the tasks that were asked of her easily, she was quite talented at Dark Arts as well

as other magic types and she was not terribly bothered by pain either to herself or to others. She even rather enjoyed the seduction; she was used to dangerous and

dominating boyfriends. She had certainly found them easily enough on her own, what did it matter if it paid off a debt or bought her some information? But she was

smart. And not just smart, but intelligent. She didn't want to follow orders and she was confident that she could think her way out of it. She knew she was talented

and powerful. So when it became clear that she was to get the dark mark soon she began to make plans. Now she was here in a little bar hotel that she knew from

her school partying days. She knew they got a bunch of hoods-up people here and wouldn't ask questions. But what now? Her plan had been to simply disappear

as far as her parents were concerned. She had trashed her room and forced her window so that if she got caught she could say she was kidnapped. But it was going

to be hard to simply disappear. She would have to have money and a place where no one would recognize her.

Her plan, such as it was, was to stay at the inn until she could find a muggle job (and some hair dye). She knew she wouldn't be able to make a lot of

money, but she just needed enough for a small apartment. She brought what wizard money she could and she hoped to be able to change that anonymously

somewhere. Now, however, as she stared at the small apartment, Alayana realized that that would never work. No, she was too ambitious. The same thing that

kept her from becoming a Death Eater would keep her from disappearing in muggle society.

'There has to be a way.' She thought. 'I can't disappear with the muggles, so I have to go somewhere in the wizarding world. But the only way to avoid

being constantly pursued by my parents is to join the Dark Lord's war. Unless… Unless I joined the other side. I'd still be living in hiding, but then I wouldn't be

doing nothing, I'd be fighting.' Jumping off the bed, Alayana went into the bathroom to shower and finalize her plans.

'Would working for the opposition be any better than working for the Dark Lord?' She asked herself.

'Probably.' She thought.

' And even if it isn't it might be a chance I have to take.' She wasn't sure what the opposition would think of an ally such as herself. She knew by almost

any standard she was a Dark Witch. She was good at the Dark Arts, powerful and slightly blind to her conscience. But she also knew that they would probably be

after any powerful witches and wizards they could get on their side. And she had inside knowledge of how the Dark Side worked.

After her shower, Alayana walked out and lay down on the bed again. If she was going to do this, going to utterly betray everything she had been taught as

a child, she was going to need to have some sleep tonight. It was almost two o'clock in the morning, but Alayana wanted to be up early. She had a new plan and she was going to make it work.

REVIEW!!


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Okay, after reading my first chapter again, I realized that I didn't like it at all. So for the moment I'm going to leave it but I'll probably eventually switch it to a new first chapter. Anyway here is chapter 2.

Disclaimer: Harry, Ginny, Ron and all characters from the Harry Potter books are the exclusive property of J. K. Rowling. No money is being made from this story and no copyright infringements are intended. So don't sue!!!!

Dragons of Power

By

Shadow's Wings

            Harry Potter sat on his Aunt's front step staring listlessly out over Private Drive. If there was one thing Harry hated it was summer. This year he had felt just as trapped away from the wizarding world as always, but in a way it was different. Now he could tell whenever something big was happening with Voldemort. He could tell by the pain in his scar.

            Harry's Aunt and Uncle were trying to just ignore him, but they seemed to know that he was on the edge of many things and were desperately trying not to provoke him. He was on the edge of despair, the edge of his temper and sometimes the edge of madness. He was still in shock over Sirius' death. He missed him terribly when his friends' letters came and Sirius' wasn't with them. And he was angry. He was angry at Dumbledore and angry at Snape and angry at himself. If only he had been able to master occlumency. He was still trying at night to clear his mind, but he knew it wasn't working.

            Harry had spent the past month trying to absorb the fact that he had to kill Voldemort. _He_ had to kill Vodemort. He _had_ to kill Voldemort. Or he would be killed. How was he supposed to kill someone who wasn't alive enough to die? Why did it have to be him? Why couldn't he just be normal for once?

            SLAM!!!

            Harry jumped and whirled around, his wand in his hand only to see his Aunt Petunia looking at him in shock.

            "Put… put that away, you fool" She hissed quietly as she glanced down the street to make sure no one was looking.

            "It's getting dark." Aunt Petunia said, "Get inside."

            Harry looked at her oddly, but walked in through the screen door. Aunt Petunia had been surprisingly cautious that summer about making sure both Harry and Dudley were in by dark and the doors locked. Harry had been surprised at first, but apparently Aunt Petunia had heard enough of the first war to realize how serious the situation was. That and she didn't want Moody and Lupin's wrath if something happened to Harry.

            The next morning Harry woke up to the Daily Prophet owl pecking him awake to ask for money. Grumbling Harry rolled out of bed and rummaged in his trunk for some money. He had been getting the Daily Prophet delivered again this summer and this time he read the articles the whole way through. The ministry of magic had finally admitted that Voldemort was back. They had also fully pardoned Dumbledore. All of their articles now said that everything was under control, people shouldn't panic, the aurors were working with Dumbledore and other experts to maintain the wizarding world's safety. There had been several small incidents which were not attributed to the Death Eaters that Harry suspected were their work. They were always at places where information or resources were concentrated. Otherwise Voldemort was still in hiding, building his army.

            Harry was reading the Daily Prophet and munching on some toast when his head suddenly exploded with pain. He dropped his toast and pushed his hands to his head as the pain increased. He felt an uncontrollable anger build up before the pain intensified again and everything went black.

            _A Death Eater knelt before him, visibly shaking. Voldemort walked toward the unfortunate man and stopped. _

_            "What exactly do you mean she's gone." He hissed dangerously. _

_            "Sh.. She.. She's gone. Her room is destroyed and we found force marks on her window. She must have been kidnapped." The man was twitching and wouldn't look up at Voldemort. _

_            "Kidnapped? And who do you think could have kidnapped her?" Voldemort asked, his anger showing through in his voice. _

_            "I.. I don't know my lord." The man all but whimpered._

_            "It is strange is it not, that just when she was supposed to receive the dark mark, someone manages to kidnap one of the most powerful witches of the time?" The man looked up at Voldemort in shock and terror._

_            "My.. My lord, you don't.. you don't think.. she didn't leave, she wouldn't.." Voldemort sneered terribly at the man. _

_            "Perhaps not. And yet, you promised me your daughter and she is not here to receive the mark… You have not kept you part of the bargain." Voldemort finished in a dangerously low hiss and pulled out his wand._

_            "My lord, please, we will find her, you will still have my daughter's power." The man pleaded. _

_            "Crucio!" cried Voldemorte. The man's screams filled the air as anger coursed through Voldemort. _

Harry awoke with a horrible headache. He looked around quickly and immediately regretted it. Movement made his head hurt much worse. He was laying on the kitchen floor with the three Dursleys bending over him. When they saw he was awake, Uncle Vernon barked

"What the devil happened to you, boy?" Harry sat up slowly and adjusted his glasses with a shaking hand. He was thinking about what he had seen. Who were they talking about? Should he contact the order about it? Harry looked at Aunt Petunia who was white as a ghost. Then he looked back at Uncle Vernon.

"I'm fine." He muttered. "I have to go- write a letter." And he backed quickly away and headed for his room.

After writing a letter describing what happened, Harry lay on his bed and rubbed his aching head. He wished he could block out the visions, but part of him wanted to see them, to know what was going on. And so his subconscious refused to lock his mind down. With a sigh, Harry closed his eyes and let his mind wonder back to the vision. After thinking about it for awhile, the vision gradually faded into a dream and he fell asleep.

A screech from Hedwig woke Harry up in the early afternoon.

"Hey girl." Harry said, taking the letter she offered. It was a letter from the Order.

Harry,

Thanks for the information about your vision and sorry about your head. We are going to come get you today. Dumbledore wants to talk to you about your visions and you've been at your Aunt and Uncle's long enough. Ron is looking forward to seeing you. We'll be able to talk more this afternoon.

                                                                                    Lupin

Harry grinned. 'Finally.' He thought. Ron and Hermione had kept in contact, but not much was going on at their places either. Ron and his family were staying at headquarters again and Hermione was still with her parents. With the good news and nap Harry's head felt better and he was able to push the vision from his mind as much as possible.

Running down the stairs he grinned at his Aunt and Uncle, who stared back at him in surprise.

"I'm leaving today." With a crazy laugh he ran back up the stairs to pack. He was going back.


	3. Chapter 3

Authors Note: Well, here's chapter three. Please, please review at the end.

Disclaimer: Harry, Ginny, Ron and all characters from the Harry Potter books are the exclusive property of J. K. Rowling. No money is being made from this story and no copyright infringements are intended. So don't sue!!!!

Dragons of Power

By

Shadow's Wings

Ginny Weasley watched from the stairs of number 12 Gimmauld Place as her brother greeted the famous Harry Potter with slaps on the back and lots of laughs. Harry was soon smothered in a hug by Ginny's mother. Several other Weasleys were clustered around Harry watching him and smiling. Harry was clearly happy to see them, but he was also clearly unsettled by being back in Grimmauld Place without Sirius. The Weasleys greeted him and then watched him carefully. Harry looked around uneasily and then back at the red-heads watching him and he smiled at them. The Weasleys seemed to accept this as confirmation that Harry was okay. Immediately they all broke into chatter and the group moved slowly into the kitchen.

            Harry looked up at Ginny as he was swept along and she gave him a brief smile before he was pulled into the kitchen. As the laughter receded Ginny's smile immediately faded and a look of deep thought took its place. She stood on the stairs lost in thought until her mother stuck her head out and called "Ginny? Can you come help me with dinner?"

Ginny stuck a bright smile on her face and jogged down the stairs to the kitchen. "Hey, there's little Ginny"

Fred said with a grin. Ron was looking at her as though gauging her reaction to Harry. 'Idiot,' Ginny thought 'I had a crush on the guy two years ago and Ron still thinks I'm in love with him.' On the outside Ginny kept her brilliant smile and said cheerfully "Hi Harry, welcome back."

And she continued on her was to the kitchen. As she turned into the kitchen she looked back. It really was quite an amusing picture. Ron was watching her retreat with a frown while the twins grinned, Bill looked confused and Harry gaped at her. OK, so she had changed, she knew that. And apparently Harry had noticed. Ginny was now 5'5" and still growing with crimson hair that fell in gentle waves to her mid-back. She was thin, but athletic with a strong build and muscles. Her chest had filled out some without being huge and her black pants and dark green tank top showed off her attributes nicely. Ginny knew Harry never would see her as a girlfriend and that was okay with her, but it was nice to know she had the power to make him look.

Ginevra Weasley was not really the girl that most saw. Most people thought that she was young and coddled by her older siblings. Most people thought that Ginny was innocent and sweet, totally devoted to Harry Potter and the light side. But that was not all that Ginny was. What none of those people understood, except perhaps Harry if he took the time to think about it, was that she had seen the darkness at its darkest. No one knew what had truly taken place over the months that Ginny was under Tom Riddle's influence, and it was not what they would have thought. Ginny was probably the only Hogwarts student who could perform the Unforgivable Curses. Tom had taught them to her along with other dark magic. What no one, not even Harry, could understand was that Ginny _liked _Tom. Or she did for much of the time she spent with him. She liked what he taught her, she even liked the thrill she got from having power over other people when she attacked them. Even though she was young and slightly brainwashed, Ginny Weasley had _chosen _the darkness. The magic binding Tom in her mind was _consensual_. And that made all of the difference.

By the end she realized that Tom was not her friend. He made that clear in the Chamber of Secrets. What had previously been soft caresses to reassure her that she was beautiful when Harry rejected her became harsh and demanding. The gentle shakes and grips that let her know who was in charge became slaps and curses. Yes, Ginny had seen the darkness, and it never truly went away.

At the end of Ginny's third year, when Voldemort returned, Ginny knew immediately.

_Ginny was sitting in the stands with some of the people from her year. She didn't have any close friends after being so solitary for her first year, but Colin and others let her hang around with them. Ginny watched nervously as first the Beauxbatons and then the Durmstrang champions were carried out of the maze. After that there was nothing. And more nothing. _

_It was nearly two hours later that she felt it. She felt a sudden sharp burning on her back, just above and to the inside of her left shoulder blade. With a yell she tried to reach around to feel it. And she felt the dark magic pour through her-- strong magic that she hadn't felt for nearly two years. _

_When the other third years looked at her in concern, Ginny hid her pain and said "Sorry, I think I got bitten by a bug. I'm going to go to the bathroom, I'll be back."_

_Ginny ran up to the Gryffindor dormitories as quickly as she could and ripped off her shirt, wincing in pain. On her back was an ugly black mark that looked fresh and was oozing blood. She gasped in shock. She had seen that mark before—that was the mark that Tom had on his arm, the mark that he was going to give her. _

_Staring at her reflection in the mirror, with only a bra on her top, Ginny saw the same apparition that she had seen so many times. A faint and fuzzy image appeared behind her and met her eyes in the mirror. At sixteen years old, Tom Riddle was truly handsome. He was fairly tall with jet black hair and green eyes. His hair was gelled to give it a rich, sleek look. His shoulders were broad and his arms well muscled. Tom stepped close behind her and ran his hands lightly down over her shoulders, circling the new mark. Still watching her face, he bent and lightly kissed the top of her shoulder. He smirked when she shivered. This was not real! Ginny told herself, and yet she knew it was. Over the last two years she had seen this image so often, but tonight it was clearer, the touch was more sensual and Tom saw the new mark. How could this just be her head pulling tricks on her? And then suddenly he was gone. _

Since that night Ginny found that many of the remnants of Tom Riddle in her mind had grown stronger again. When the diary was destroyed almost everything of Tom Riddle disappeared. But he was still there. Bound by Ginny's consensual agreement to let him in, Tom Riddle remained in her mind. Now and then she would here his voice whispering in her ear or feel his strong hands on her shoulders. Sometimes she felt the dark magic in her when she tried a particularly powerful spell. But always these remnants were faint and fleeting. Until he returned.

A year and three months after Voldemort returned the images were so real that Ginny was sure Tom was actually standing there. And she was sure she could perform some of the most powerful spells known, even ones that involved dark magic. The difference was that he could not physically control her, and this time she was smart enough not to listen to the whispering in her ears. If she ever felt him get strong enough to control her, Ginny vowed that she would throw herself out the window. She would not let him use her again. But until then she stayed quiet, she did not give the slightest hint of the darkness that she carried within.

Now in the kitchen of headquarters Ginny helped her mother dish out the food and carry it to the larger room. As she moved among the chattering boys she placed a smile on her face and willed it to reach her eyes. She knew at this moment Tom was upset and angry. When she placed Harry's dish in front of him he was telling Ron something quietly and absentmindedly rubbing his scar. Ginny caught the words "scar," "vision," and "Voldemort", or rather she saw Ron wince and knew that Harry said "Voldemort." What was he talking about?

Ginny turned her back mostly to the two and began fussing with the spoon in a dish to her left and checking to make sure the food was warm. At the same time she kept her ears peeled for fragments of the conversation. She heard Harry say "I saw Voldemort questioning a man about someone who was mission or gone. It was a woman who was going to receive the dark mark and disappeared. The man, who was her father, said that she was kidnapped but Voldemort didn't seem to buy that. And he called her 'one of the most powerful witches' or something like that."

At that point Ginny had to move on, but as she left she snuck a look at her brother's face. He looked shocked and nervous as he always did when talking about Voldemort. 'Interesting.' Ginny thought, 'I wonder who he's talking about, she must be fairly young.' Ginny filed the information away to think about later. At the moment a bunch of Order members had shown up, including Lupin, and Harry was being mobbed again.

As Ginny hurried to prepare more food for the guests, she kept her ears open scraps of news. She didn't mind eavesdropping when she needed information and couldn't get it any other way. After all she was just little Ginny and shouldn't be told anything. Just little, sweet Ginny.


End file.
